1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to application of mortar between the vertical walls of adjacent building block elements, more specifically to a tool for experienced and inexperienced workers to accurately, repeatedly, place the correct amount of mortaring cement between facing sides of adjacent blocks in construction of a wall. With the tool, blocks can be placed in a horizontal line accurately, eliminating the need to set blocks vertically and horizontally at the same time. It can be used to horizontally fill the space where a wall abuts a header, and also against an adjacent wall.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The prior art is replete with patented apparatus for applying mortar to a course of adjacent building block elements.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,764,222 patented Oct. 9, 1973 by Orthman describes a box having a bottom opening that is about as wide as a brick. A pair of guide rails on the bottom of the box are designed to guide the box for lengthwise movement along the top of a wall. A slide-out plate seals the bottom of the box. The box is filled with mortar and the plate is slid out so that the mortar is deposited on and between adjacent bricks as the box is pulled along the wall. The trailing end of the box has a liftable gate which can be set at a desired height above the bricks to control the thickness of the layer of mortar that is left behind on the top of the bricks as the box is pulled forward. Alignment members extend downward from the sides of the box so that they hug the side of the wall being built to align the box vertically and scrape the mortar overflowing to the side of the wall.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,999,920 patented Dec. 28, 1976 by Cerillo, Jr., describes a container that is positioned over the space between two adjacent bricks in a course of bricks such as on the top of a wall under construction. In the bottom of the container, positioned over the opening, is a slot that is wider than, and almost as long as, the opening between the bricks. The slot is temporarily sealed by a slide gate. Vertical bars extending downward from opposite sides of the box seal the vertical open ends of the space between the bricks. The gate is open allowing the mortar to enter the space between the bricks until the space is filled, then the gate is closed. The container is then lifted straight up from the filled space between the bricks and slid down over another empty space between bricks of the course, aligned with the space by the vertical bars which each present a convex surface toward the opening.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,258 patented Jan. 19, 1982 by P. Bradshaw describes a cylindrical barrel having at the front end of the barrel, a cap formed into a tubular stalk outlet cut on a bias. A plunger sealingly slides within the tube, operated by a ratchet trigger mechanism to force mortar from within the tube, out of the tube through the stalk. The tube is refilled by removing the cap and drawing the mortar into the tube by pulling the plunger in the tube toward the back end of the tube.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,114,040 patented May 19, 1992 by Brenish et al. describes a hopper having horizontally elongated, angled downward and inward, side walls which terminate in a longitudinal slot opening at the bottom of the hopper. A pair of parallel guide strips, open downward and at their ends, extend downward from the slot the length of the slot. The hopper is supported a fixed height by skids on spaced adjacent paving stones so that the guide strips extend into the space between the stones. A plunger consisting of a horizontal bar having sides of the lower half of the bar angled downward and inward at the same angle as the side walls, terminating in a flat bottom, and the sides of the upper half angled upward and inward, is held in the hopper parallel to the slot by a vertical handle, and reciprocated up and down in the cement filled hopper so that the cement is mixed and dispensed through the slot. When the bar comes in contact with the side walls of the hopper it seals the opening, and the hopper can be moved further along the space between the paving stones.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,695,560 patented Dec. 9, 1997 by R. Hession describes a hopper having two parallel exit slots, spaced apart so that each slot lays a ribbon of mortar along one edge of the top of a row of bricks as the hopper rolls along the top of the row of bricks supported by plurality of wheels riding on the bricks between the slots, and guided laterally by outboard vertically axled wheels bearing on the opposite sides of the bricks below the top of the bricks.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,996,856, patented by J. Duncan on Dec. 7, 1999 describes a container that contains a worm gear driven by an electric motor to force mortar in the container from the container into a tube having a clamp and a tube spreader assembly mounted on the end of the tube. The container is mounted on an arm that is mounted on a track follower assembly.
It is one object of the invention to provide a hand tool for applying masonry binder or filler material between adjacent masonry units in a masonry construction. It is another object of the invention that the tool extends into the space between the adjacent masonry units to the surface upon which the masonry units rest. It is another object that the binder material is added to the space as the tool is moved out of the space away from the surface upon which the masonry units rest. Other objects and advantages will become apparent to one reading the ensuing description of the invention.
A container includes a flexible tube that is elongated in cross section. The tube is at least as long as a first length of a first facing surface of adjacent, facing, spaced apart surfaces of adjacent masonry units. An opening in the tube is shorter in the elongated direction than a second length of the first facing surface normal to the first length of the first facing surface.
Another tool of the invention for inserting mortar between a first surface having a height and a width of a first masonry unit, and a second surface of a second masonry unit adjacent to, facing and spaced from the first surface, includes a container that includes a flexible elongated in cross section tube, a first opening at a first end of the tube being shorter in the elongated direction than the width of the first face unit and spaced from a shoulder on said tool a distance no longer than the height of the first masonry unit, and a second opening in the container configured for receiving mortar for passing mortar through said tube to the first opening.